How the BAMers got their Jammers
by DDR B-Girl Emi
Summary: This is a funny little story about how the BAM/G characters got their jammers. Hope you enjoy! I'm not done yet so please stay posted. *UPDATED* Celebrate! ^.^
1. Deals and Powers

How "Jammers" Came Into Existence  
  
Just how did the Bust-A-Movers get their jammers? Read this story to find out how and why "jammers" were created. In this story Frida is the "bad girl". Please no flames, I actually like Frida but I decided to change the typical "Frida is the perfect one" by making her evil. Hehe. It's also a ShortyxHeat. The first few parts aren't exactly funny, but I promise you, just keep reading and the WILL be!!!  
  
  
The young artist stood there painting. She just painted, painted, painted all day long. Her name was Frida. Frida hated the entire world. You see, she's pretty much in poverty and in need of money...however nobody wished to buy her paintings. "My artwork is the best in the whole world and yet, nobody wants to buy my pieces! Idiots..." She took her paintbrush and started painting with frustration. She'd been painting for about 7 hours today and each painting produced more resent towards the human race. She dipped her paintbrush, painted, dipped her brush, painted, dipped her brush, painted, etc. All day long just sitting in front of her easel and painting. This has been her routine for about 3 years. Her days have always been the same...but today her life was going to take a dramatic turn. She was painting a picture of a wolf when the wolf suddenly sprang out of the picture. She stared at the wolf and felt like screaming but the wolf began to talk before she had the chance to let her lungs scream. "You hate this world Frida...hate....hate...hate. I think we can reach some kind of arrangement."  
"Wh-what kinda arrangement?" Frida asked. She was a tough girl...but who WOULDN'T be freaked out to see a painted wolf come out of 11" x 18" slab of canvas?  
" I can grant you the powers of the "Groovetron"...I stole enough of its power to give to you." The wolf replied.  
"Why...why me?" Frida asked.  
"Because...you are the artist who can control such power. You are also one who likes to dance." The wolf said.  
"What will happen to me?" Frida asked.  
"You will have the ability to let your paintings come to life whenever you wish." The wolf growled.  
"What do you want in return?" Frida asked.  
"I want you to unleash havoc unto the world...which is exactly what you want." The wolf said. Frida thought. She DID hate the world...besides, what else does she have to do? All she did was paint.  
"It's a deal!" Frida said with a smile. The wolf closed its eyes and began to chant. Frida felt a surge of power fill her and soon, the wolf disappeared into the canvas. The canvas whispered to her, "Frida...you don't need any canvas to unleash your hate, simply paint into the air." Frida thought that was idiotic, but when she took out her brush, the painting of a flower came out perfectly straight and it seemed to levitate. She goggled at the flower as it floated towards her and became a REAL flower. She smiled with a glint in her eyes and took some paint cans and brushes and set of on her quest of revenge.  
  
At the same time Frida made her deal, there was a racer who was severely burned being rushed to the emergency room. "The patient calls himself 'Heat'...3rd degree burns...this is quite severe..." The doctor yelled. They slammed open doors and put Heat on a bed and quickly started to revive him.  
Several days later, Heat regained consciousness. He looked up to see a beautiful nurse standing over him. As his eyes opened, he heard sighs of relief. "He's miraculously healed." The nurse said. "Anything I can do for you?" the nursed asked.  
"Yeah...can you direct me to the nearest bathroom? Heat asked. The nurse pointed to a door just outside the room.  
"Thanks!" Heat said as he jumped off the bed and ran towards the bathroom. Since he just woke up, his vision wasn't perfect and he ran into the door. He fell unconscious again. The nurse sighed, picked him up and put him back on the bed. "This is the seventh time this month..." the nurse explained to the doctors behind her.  
Of course, Heat FINALLY did find his way to the bathroom without running into the door and left the hospital. He's been an abandoned child at the age of 16...now he was 19 and living well as a racer...or he was until his accident. His body still felt like it was burning up. He thought about his parents who abandoned him and got angry. He glared at a tree nearby and felt like hitting it. His fists balled up and he was about to punch when he realized there was fire coming out of his hand. "WHOA!!!" He exclaimed. The tree was burnt crisp and people stopped what they were doing to watch. "Eh...I'm a...magician!!!" Heat lied. Everyone blinked then continued whatever they stopped doing. "This is too cool!" Heat thought.  
  
In a mansion nearby, a young girl was singing with her little off key voice and dancing. Her father's assistant, Kelly, and her mother's cousin's niece's brother's daughter in-law, Kitty-N (a famous Japanese actress) were watching the little girl sing and dance and were practically falling asleep. When the girl stopped, the two women applauded loudly with big chipper smiles in hopes of getting her to stop. The girl quickly began to talk with a very fast voice and with much to say. "Did you like that? I liked that! I think that if I try a little harder I can be famous. You know Kitty-N's, famous Kelly? Yup she has her own show. I always wanted a show. Shows look like so much fun. I used to watch Kitty-N of TV. Oh being a secretary must be fun. Yup...my dad's very own administrative assistant. How cool is that. I bet you can type fast. How fast can you type? I can type pretty well for my age. Yup...click click click. I'm that fast typer when it comes to typing. You can even here me from other rooms. Even Columbo can hear me. Columbo's my mouse, see?" The little girl said while she stopped her talking and took out a little mouse from her pocket of her overalls. Kelly and Kitty-N sighed as they nodded with interest. "Say, that reminds me of a story--" the girl began, but she was interrupted by Kelly. "Er...how about some other day...I've...I've got lots of work these days."  
"That's OK, then I'll tell Kitty-N." The little girl said.  
"Oh...well...I've got to...uh...model this new product. Bye!" Kitty-N stammered. At that, Kelly and Kitty-N quickly jetted out of the door.  
"Emily, you mustn't trouble them so..." The girl's father said.  
"But I wasn't papa...I really wasn't." The little girl said.  
"Try talking less and listening more." Her father said with a smile. A little lock of her long brown bangs fell over Emily's eyes.  
"Kitty-N...she has such a cool name...can't I have a cool name like that?" Emily said with a pout. Her little naive face showed a hint of disappointment at her own plain name.  
"Would you like a nickname?" her father asked.  
"Well...I have to admit that I would like to be different from other people." The Emily said.  
"You name another person who has parents that are diplomats and supermodels." Emily's father said.  
"Well... my name is so...shabby." Emily said.  
"Emily is a beautiful name." Her father said.  
"Yes but...it's so ordinary." Emily said.  
"Well...look at it this way. Your height isn't so ordinary." Her father said.  
"Papa! How mean!" Emily said.  
"Well...it's true." Her father said with a chuckle.  
"Hey...that gives me an idea. My nickname can be Shorty!!!" Emily said with a chuckle.  
"Shorty, eh? Good name...it has a certain ring in it."  
"Great! Then now I know what I want to be called!" 


	2. The First Fight

Frida went outside. Her anger was burning inside of her. She was running as fast as she could and bumped into someone.  
"Sorry." The man said.  
"You!! You're that art critic who always rejects my work!" Frida yelled.  
"Uh...Frida?" The man asked. Frida smiled while she took out her brush.  
"Well, you've rejected me for the last time..." Frida said sinisterly.  
"Wh-what?" The man asked. Frida smiled her heart-shattering beautiful smile. She let her beautiful sky blue hair float and bounce as she painted a tiger and released it towards the man. The tiger pounced on the man and Frida walked away with the screams of the man and the people staring at her as she walked with a smile on her face.  
  
Emily saw as the young lady walked away and saw the poor man lying on the floor bleeding with his life slowly slipping away. A guy ran to the phone and Emily ran to catch up to the lady and when she got to her tapped her. The lady turned around and smiled cheerfully at the little girl.  
"That...that wasn't very nice." Emily said.  
"Nice?" The lady asked. "Rejecting my artwork 17 times...THAT'S not nice.  
"Well...that doesn't mean you should KILL him." Emily replied.  
"Tell me then, why aren't you calling the police?" The lady asked.  
"Because...that guy over there already is." Emily said pointing at the guy. He had dark brown hair and flaming eyes.  
"Is he...well then, I guess I ought to stop him." The lady said with a smile. She took out her paintbrush and gracefully painted vines that spurted towards the man known as "Heat".  
Heat spun around and saw vines spurting towards him. He put his hands out in front of him and burned the vines and managed to injure the lady. The lady staggered back in pain and clutched her burned arm.  
"How...how did you...?" Frida stammered.  
"You're not the only one with special powers." Heat grinned. Frida grabbed Shorty and stuck up her paintbrush. Come any closer and I'll hurt the girl!" Frida yelled.  
"Ha." Heat said as his hands produced yet another flame. He shot it at Frida who let go of Shorty in shock.  
"Hahaha...I feel like Recca from 'Flame of Recca.'"  
Shorty started running around in circles. "Eeeeeeeeee!!!" she yelled. Suddenly, candy fell out of the sky and landed on top of Frida.  
"Eh..." Shorty said. "Cool."  
"How'd you do that?" Heat asked.  
"Do what?" Shorty asked.  
"That." Heat replied.  
"What this?" Shorty asked.  
"No that." Heat said.  
"Oh, this?" Shorty said.  
"Yeah that." Heat said.  
"I don't know. It just kind of happened." Shorty said. Frida's hand came out of the candy and grabbed Shorty's leg.  
"Ahhh!!!" Shorty screamed.  
Heat powered up his flame and shot another attack at Frida. Heat grabbed Shorty's hand and they ran away. 


	3. The One and Only...Hiro-kun!

Shorty and Heat ran away huffing. Shorty's heart raced as she thought about her newfound powers. They were in a dark alley. She looked up at Heat. "He's cute...cute, but stupid." She thought with a smile.  
"What'cha smiling about?" Heat asked.  
"Nothing." Shorty said as she stuck out her tongue. Just then, a door opened in the alley and hit Heat on the head throwing him to the floor.  
"Ouch..." Heat said rubbing his head.  
"Sorry about that." The mad said. He was wearing a white Disco Suit and his hair was put up in a disco-like fashion. His brown hair gleamed in the dark moonlight.  
"I'm really sorry. You should feel quite special...after all, Hiro-kun hardly ever apologizes." The man said with a hint of an "I'm better than you" attitude. Shorty and Heat stared at each other then stared at Hiro-kun.  
"What's up with you?" Heat asked.  
"What's UP with ME?" Hiro-kun asked. "I'M a PERFECT human being."  
"Riiiight." Shorty said.  
"I AM right. After all...I'm PREFECT!" Hiro said.  
"You're weird." Shorty said.  
"You want my BEAUTIFUL picture little girl?" Hiro asked. He took out a photograph and handed it to Shorty.  
"AHHHHHH!!! UGLY MAN!!! UGLY MAN!!!" Shorty screamed.  
"UGLY? ME? UGLY?!" Hiro asked.  
"YES!!! VERY!" Shorty shrieked.  
"VERY UGLY?" Hiro asked.  
"VERY VERY VERY UGLY!" Shorty said.  
"NO! I'M GORGEOUS!" Hiro said.  
"UUUUUUGLY!" Shorty replied. "Ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly..."  
"SHADDUP!" Heat said. He pointed Hiro. "You, you're ugly." "And you," Heat said pointing to Shorty, "You talk WAAAAY too much."  
"An you!" Shorty said pointing at Heat. "You're REEEEEEALLY stupid."  
"ME? STUPID?" Heat asked.  
"YES!!! VERY!" Shorty said.  
"VERY STUPID?" Heat asked.  
"VERY VERY VERY STUPID!" Shorty said.  
"NO! I'M SMART!" Heat said.  
"STUUUUUPID!" Shorty replied. "Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid..."  
"Someone get her to shut up!!!" Heat yelled.  
"I'm beautiful...handsome...fine...exquisite...hot...gorgeous...." Hiro repeated to himself. 


	4. Second Meeting with Kelly

  
Frida grumbled as she lifted herself out of the piles of candy and rubbed her burned arms. "As if I'm not tan enough already..." Frida sighed looking at her dark arms. "Well...no matter." She shrugged off with her paintbrush and paint and smiled merrily as she walked down the street. Whoever she knew who had rejected her was as good as dead.  
  
Heat Shorty and Hiro were walking down the street. Heat interrupted the silence, "Hiro, why are you FOLLOWING us?" Heat asked.  
"Because...I want to prove to you all just how handsome I am." Hiro eyed an attractive young woman walking down the street. "Hey you," Hiro said to the woman. "I'm handsome aren't I?"  
"Get lost!" The woman said giving him a glare.  
"Kelly?" Shorty asked.  
"Emily?" Kelly asked.  
"Hey!!! It IS you!" Shorty exclaimed.  
"Indeed! How are you? Awww...you're so cute!" Kelly exclaimed.  
"Sorry about yesterday...I was probably talking sooooo much." Shorty said.  
"It's OK." Kelly said with a smile.  
"Who's he?" Kelly asked eyeing Heat.  
"He's Heat." Shorty said with a smile.  
"Heat, eh?" Kelly said smiling. Then she chuckled. "Not my type...his hair is...and his clothes...and...oh never mind."  
"My HAIR??? My CLOTHES??? WHAT'S WRONG WITH THEM?!" Heat demanded.  
"Oh they're just...well...shabby." Kelly said.  
"My HAIR is da best thing God ever created!" Heat began. "And my CLOTHES are the hottest, funkiest things in the world!"  
"Whatever!" Kelly said.  
"ARGHHH!" Heat yelled.  
"You're weird..." Kelly said.  
"I'm hot...I know I am." Hiro said trying to put self-confidence in himself.  
"SHUDDAP!" Shorty yelled. Everyone looked at her. "No more fighting." Everyone stared at her harder. "I mean it or I'll start talking again!!! A LOT A LOT A LOT!!!" Shorty yelled.  
"OK, OK, OK!" Everyone yelled.  
"Thank you!" Shorty said smiling.  
"That little..." Hiro said glaring.  
"Little what?" Shorty asked.  
"Little brat!" Hiro spat out.  
"Hiro-kun, that wasn't a very nice thing to say." Kelly said. Shorty's eyes started to well up with tears. Heat kneeled down to Shorty. "You OK, kid?" Heat asked. Shorty sniffled.  
"Here." Heat said handing her his beanie. "I may be stupid, but I do know what pain feels like...someone at your age shouldn't feel that way."  
"Heat..." Shorty said. "That's got to be the nicest thing you've ever said to me."  
"Miracles happen." Heat said with a smirk as he stood up again. Shorty's heart skipped a beat and she blushed a bit. "Thanks Heat..." Shorty thought to herself. 


	5. Heat and Doors (Uh Oh!)

Shorty sat in her room. She was holding Heat's beanie which seemed to feel eternally warm. She clutched it to her chest so that she could absorb all of it's warmth. Everyone else was at her mansion (except Frida of course). Kitty-N, Heat, Kelly, and Hiro (who was still calling himself words like "hot", "handsome", etc.) She hugged the beanie a little tighter and finally let go. She didn't need it anymore beacause she had absorbed all of it's love from it. She felt special. She pranced down the stairs happily.  
"I'm baaaack!" Shorty declared.  
"Oh joy." Hiro said sarcastically.  
"Shuddap!" Shorty said sticking out her tongue.  
"Make me." Hiro said. Shorty grinned and ran in a circle. "Eeeee!" Huge pieces of candy appeared out of no where and landed on top of Hiro-kun.  
"Ah help meeee!" Hiro wailed.  
"Help yourself." Kelly said. Kelly had changed into a latex baby suit and her Brittish accent seemed to fit her perfectly. Shorty giggled and exchanged high-fives with Kitty-N who was rather sick of Hiro herself.  
"Go Shorty!" Kitty-N said. Shorty giggled again.  
"Hey Shorty, where's the refrigerator?" Heat asked.  
"Here I'll go show you!" Shorty said as she hopped out of the room. Heat followed her and they finally reached a fancy Victorian style kitchen. Shorty pointed to the refrigerator. Heat reached for the handle and pulled.  
"It won't open." Heat said.  
"Pull harder, it'll work sooner or later." Shorty said.  
"It...ain't...--" POW! Heat opened the door but smacked his face in the process of doing so. Shorty sighed.  
"You're not very good with doors are you?"  
"You COULD offer to help me." Heat said. Shorty opened the freezer (without smacking herself) and took out an ice pack. She handed it to Heat who put it on his cheek. 5 seconds later, the ice melted.  
"Eh...got another one?" Heat asked.  
"Why?" Shorty asked.  
"Cuz this is just a pile of water now." Heat said. Shorty sighed again.  
"You're a big boy, you can live." Shorty said. Heat grumbled. Shorty laughed. For a moment they exchanged glances. Shorty quickly spun around, her pigtails spinning with her.  
"Heat...why do you always...look at me like that." Shorty asked. Heat was looking at her with that goofy grin on his face.  
"You remind me a lot of how I was when I was 10." Heat said.  
"Well FYI...I'm 12!!!" Shorty exclaimed.  
"Hahaha..." Heat said. "Still...you're so similar to me when I was a child."  
"I'm NOT a kid!" Shorty declared. "I'm a PRE-TEEN!" She said.  
"Everyone is still a kid in here." Heat said patting his heart. "Especially you. Being a kid is a reward...don't ever think otherwise."  
"Ha! Being a kid SUCKS!" Shorty declared. "You get pushed around and PLUS nobody cares about your opinion cuz you're JUST A KID!"  
"Better than becoming old and senile." Heat said.  
"As if you're anything CLOSE to senile!" Shorty said.  
"You're right. I'm 19...but I'll be closer to 'old' before you will." Heat said winking.  
"Maybe..." Shorty said. Heat kneeled down to her and gave her a smile. Shorty blushed.  
"You're so cute!" Heat said as he gave her a light kiss on her cheek. Shorty blushed even more and didn't even blink as Heat grinned.  
"Stay the same Shorty...stay young at heart." Heat said as he got up to leave. He walked away from Shorty...and then ran into the door. Shorty snapped out of her haze and sighed.  
"Heat...you really ought to learn the mechanics of a door." Shorty said as Heat nursed his aching cheek. 


	6. Who's the Male Icon?

Shorty and Heat walked back to where the rest of the group was. Hiro was looking at himself in a hand mirror, Kitty-N was  
adjusting her helemt of her catsuit, and Kelly was brushing her long, blond, hair.  
"Hello!" Shorty said cheerfully.  
"Emily...you're face is as red as a Granny Smith Apple!" Kelly exclaimed. Since Kelly was from Britain, she didn't know that a Granny Smith Apple was green  
"Oh...well...I ran a lot. I'm just tired." Shorty said trying to cover the incident up.  
"Nah. That's not it. I kissed her and she's freaking out." Heat said.  
"HEAT!!! That's ra--" Kelly exclaimed. Her British accent was thick in her soft voice.  
"On the cheek! On the CHEEK!" Heat said poking Shorty's cheek.  
"Ahwch (ouch)." Shorty said. She was unable to say it correctly because Heat was poking her cheek.  
"Sorry." Heat said.  
"You guys are weird." Kitty-N said. "Weird...yet so interesting. I'm sticking with you guys."  
"Oh great...another 'follower'." Heat said.  
"Count me in too." Kelly said. "After all, Shorty IS my boss's child and I need to look after her...Frida going crazy and all..."  
Hiro rolled his eyes. "Oh PLEASE. The reason is obvious. You think I'm sexy and you want to follow me around."  
"Oh brother." Kelly said.  
"It's true isn't it? Yes I'm just...the male icon of the century." Hiro said.  
"If anyone's the male icon it's me!" Heat said.  
"As if!" All the girls said at the same time.  
"None of you are my type." Kelly said.  
"Nor mine...after all, I have my heart set on (sigh) Michael Doi!" Kitty-N said. Heat and Hiro looked at Shorty.  
"Oh Shoooorty." Hiro said.  
"Nope I'm not answering." Shorty said.  
"Oh come on now Shorty...just say it's me." Heat said his eyes pleading.  
"Nuh-uh!" Shorty said shaking her head. "I'm not saying anything." Hiro and Heat sighed.  
"Well, it doesn't matter because I know I'm the male icon." Hiro said.  
"Get a life." Heat said.  
"That goes for both of ya!" Kitty-N said.  
"Amen!" Shorty said.  
"Shooorty. Did I ever tell you how CUTE you are." Heat said.  
"Try again buddy." Shorty said grinning. "I'm not saying a SIGNLE word."  
"I'll give you piggypack ride..." Heat said with a sing-song voice.  
"Weeeeeeeeeell...NO!" Shorty yelled.  
"Don't bother her Heat." Kelly said.  
"Yeah!" Kitty-N said.  
"Alright alright." Heat said. Everyone was quiet.  
"Well...let's go get that madman...er...madwoman." Shorty said.   



	7. Meet Gas-O!

The group walked down the crowded street.  
"Are you SURE this is where you found her?" Kelly asked.  
"Yes!! Look over there! See that alley? I was SMACKED by that door after fighting Frida." Heat said.  
"He's right." Hiro-kun said. "I was the one who opened the door."  
"Oh...because I was about to say that Heat has probably hit many doors in his lifetime." Kelly said. Shorty giggled.  
"Oh you think that's funny, eh?" Heat asked.  
"Yup!" Shorty said. Heat smacked Shorty's cap. "Hey!" Shorty said. She ran after Heat and accidentally bumped into someone. Her mind shadowed as she slowly turned around...afraid to see who it was she had bumped into. The lady had bright pink hair and a short pink top and skimpy dress.  
"S-sorry." Shorty said. The woman glared at her. She turned and quickly walked away. Someone tapped Shorty's shoulder and she spun around to find out who it was. A gas mask was staring at her.  
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Shorty screamed.  
"Whoa, whoa! Calm down!!" A male voice in the gas mask said. The boy removed his gas mask and inside was a punk looking teenage boy. He had a Mohawk of blond hair and ice blue eyes. A thick silver chain was visible under his outfit.  
"Oh...my...GOSH!" Shorty yelled. "You're a human!"  
"Well what'd you think I was? An alien?" The boy said. Shorty didn't say anything...the truth is, that's what she thought. The boy realized this and laughed.  
"Guess so! You can call be Gas-O." The boy said.  
"I-I'm Shorty."  
"Anyways, you're lucky. That lady you just ran into is rumored to be an assassin." Gas-O said. Shorty shivered.  
"I read that in 'Sci-Fi Series: Dangerous People.' Gas-O said.  
"Guess you're a Sci-Fi person." Shorty said.  
"Got that right!" Gas-O said. Just then Heat walked up to them.  
"Geez Shorty! You're so slow!" Heat said. Then he saw Gas-O.  
"Who's this? A friend of yours?" Heat asked, just then everyone else came too.  
"OMIGOSH! Shorty, you had me worried." Kelly said.  
"WHOA! A Brit.!" Gas-O exclaimed.  
"Yes I am. I'm from Liverpool, why?" Kelly said.  
"Oh...uh...my dad was from London." Gas-O said.  
"And you are...?" Kelly asked.  
"Name's Gas-O." Gas-O replied.  
"Gas-O? Sounds like some indigestion medication or something." Kitty-N said. Gas-O laughed. Just then, the group heard screams.  
"AHHHH! CRAZY TEENAGER! CRAZY TEENAGER!!!!" People yelled.  
"FRIDA!" Everyone but Gas-O said.  
"Frida?" Gas-O asked. "Ohhh, that artist who's gone on a killing rampage?" Nobody answered Gas-O question but stood facing towards the screams. Frida emerged from the crowd, her paintbrush held high.  
"Wow! She's a babe!" Gas-O said.  
"She's also Frida." Hiro-kun said. Gas-O gulped. "I take that back."  
"Well, well, well. Look who I've found here!" Frida said. "Candy Girl and the Fireboy have made some new friends. Let's see here...catwoman, right? Gas mask...hmmm hahaha and the baby. Not to mention ELVIS!"  
"We DO have names you know!" Kitty-N said.  
"Who cares about names...let's fight." Gas-O said. Everyone looked at Gas-O. Gas-O let out a maniacal laugh and a gas chamber rose out of the ground and around Frida.  
"How in the world did you...?" Kelly began.  
"I read it in 'Sci-Fi Series: Defying the Normal Stuff'" Gas-O said. Soon Frida was released and she coughed a bit to release the fumes of the gas from her lungs.  
"Eeeee!" Shorty said while running in a circle.  
"That's not going to work again little girl!" Frida said. She quickly started painting. The finished product: Usagi (from Sailor Moon) and Miaka (from Fushigi Yugi). The two Anime girls quickly ran for the candy and wolfed it down greedily. While Frida was concentrating on that, Heat found and opportunity to attack.  
"Haaa!" Heat yelled releasing fire from his two hands. It worked! Frida fell backwards and hit the ground. Kitty-N wanted to help and her will to help created an aura around her. She released little hearts and attacked Frida again. Kelly stared in awe. Her rattle started glowing and she attacked Frida as well.  
"Eeeee!" Shorty said again. This time, Frida was lying on the floor so the candy toppled on top of her and she remained buried there.  
"This time I brought reinforcements!" Frida said. An enormous man with bleached blond hair emerged from an alley pounded his stomach. A gangster well known as "Notorious" stepped out of the shadows, and the assassin lady jumped from the roof of one of the buildings. "Introduce yourselves." Frida said.  
"Name's Hamm." The enormous man said.  
"Name's Strike...or better known to others as 'Notorious'." The gangster said  
"Pinky..." The pink lady said. She took out a single tarrot card then moved her free hand over it and one card became a deck of cards.  
"Let's get this show on the road!" Gas-O said.  



	8. One Strike yer...in?

'Notorious' made the first move. He pulled out a gun and began to shoot at everyone.  
"Ahhhh!!" Everyone screamed. Heat burned away all the bullets and shot fire out and Strike. Every bullet that was speeding toward Heat and the others exploded from the heat of the fire.  
"Agh!" 'Notorious' said while he fell to the floor. Not only did he suffer from Heat's attack, but he was also hurt more than the usual fire. You see, the bullets that exploded in mid-air from the fire not only exploded, but increased Heat's attack.  
"Strike!" Frida shrieked. Pinky took this opportunity to attack. She pulled out three magical tarot cards and flung them at Heat. "Ack!" Heat hollered while he fell to the ground. Gas-O released his gas chamber on Pinky. Hamm obviously had learned some attack techniques of his own. A huge hamburger fell out of the sky and landed on top of Gas-O. Kelly attacked with her rattle again, but this time aimed her attack at Hamm. Hamm tried to dodge the attack, but was to slow. The hearts from the rattle pounded at his stomach. They did little damage, however, and Hamm simply made another hamburger fall out of the sky. Kelly dodged it (being in tip-top condition as opposed to Hamm). Kitty-N unleashed her attack at Frida who quickly back-flipped out of the way. Heat attacked Frida with fire, but this time, she wasn't as distracted as before. She painted Umi (from Magic Knights Rayearth) and extinguished the flames that were hurtling towards her.  
"She watches way too much Anime." Heat said with an exasperated tone.  
"Watch it! I LOVE Anime!" Shorty said. Gas-O got up from the giant hamburger and attacked Hamm with the gas chamber attack. Strike shot at Shorty who yelped at the site of the bullets hurtling toward her. Her life flashed before her eyes. Heat saw this and quickly unleashed fire at the bullets with increased rage. The fire hit not only Strike, but Pinky, Frida, and Hamm as well.  
"Let's get outa here!" Frida yelled. Pinky and Hamm followed, but Strike was severely hurt from the attacks.  
"Strike...!" Pinky yelled to Frida.  
"Forget him, let's go!" Frida yelled back. In a matter of seconds, they were gone.  
  
Shorty slowly walked toward Strike. He groaned.  
"Shorty, don't get any closer to him!" Kelly said warningly. Shorty ignored Kelly's pleas as she inched closer and closer to Strike until she was hunched over him. She knelt down and turned him upright.  
"Wh-why are you helping me?" Strike asked.  
"Because...I just feel like it." Shorty said with a smile.  
"Shorty watch out!" Heat said while powering up. Shorty stood up in front of Strike and put her arms out.  
"Why are you...protecting him?" Hiro-kun said while inching out of the dark alley.  
"Coward." Heat mumbled to Hiro-kun who obviously wasn't helping during the previous battle.  
"He isn't a bad man." Shorty said defensively.  
"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?!?!" Kelly asked. "As if being on FRIDA'S side ISN'T bad...he's also a well-known GANG MEMBER...oh, and let's not forget that he's on the UNITED STATES top 10 list!!!!"  
"He...he doesn't mean any harm." Shorty said. She kneeled down and took Strike's hand. Gently, she helped him up.  
"Why don't you...join us?" Shorty asked. Strike was bewildered. He looked at Shorty's friends and back at her.  
"I can't...your friends..." Strike began. "I'm a gangster, I don't accept charity."  
"Then consider this an agreement." Shorty said. Strike nodded toward the rest of the group.  
"What about them?" He asked. Gas-O was the first one to accept Strike.  
"He's not exactly the NICEST guy in the world, but we could definitely use the help." Gas-O said.  
"I guess..." Kitty-N said. Kelly hesitated. "What would your FATHER say Emily?" She took a breath. "If you think he's a good person, then I trust your judgment." She said finally. Shorty looked at Heat. Heat was the only one who didn't seem to like this new person. In his mind, he was angry that everyone would trust this gangster. Heat's mind raced with anger and disappointment that this new person would be in the group after he had tried to KILL Heat...he also tried to kill Shorty and yet she was accepting Strike. He sighed and shrugged. "Sure OK." Heat said. Shorty smiled. "Thanks Heat." She said.  
"No problem..." Heat said. Was it just his imagination or did he also feel...jealousy?  



	9. Sacrifice for Robo-Z

"Emerald!!!" Ruby said with excitement in her voice while she prodded Emerald who was still sleeping.  
"What...do...you...WANT?!?!?!" Emerald yelled.  
"IT worked!! Codename: Robo-Z has awakened!!!" Ruby said. Emerald quickly flipped out of bed.  
"WHAAAAAT?!?!" She asked with excitement.  
"IT WORKED! IT WORKED! IT WORKED!" Ruby yelled.  
"No way!" Emerald said shaking off her long, wavy, beautiful green hair. Emerald was 26 and working at TechJunkie Inc. Her younger sister Ruby, was 21 with short red hair.  
"Hi-ho! Hi-ho! It's off to work we go!" Ruby sang. "With a PROMOTION!" For the past 3 years, TechJunkie Inc. was working on creating a humanoid robot. The robot was complete with an arsenal to protect cities against anyone who dared to wage war on the U.S.  
Emerald smiled and with great speed, the two sisters dressed, got into their car (license plate: GEMSTONZ) and sped off to work.  
  
"Emerald...well, I must say I'm proud of your accomplishments." Diamond (the organization head) said.  
"Th-thank you sir." Emerald said.  
"But I'm afraid I must tell you the truth. You see, we're not making this humanoid to SAVE this Earth..." Diamond began, a sinister smile appearing on his handsome face. "We're making Codename: Robo-Z to DESTROY this Earth."  
"I...I don't understand." Emerald said.  
"I'm not done yet." Diamond said with a laugh. "It's rude to interrupt. You see, since YOU know the components to this humanoid, I'm afraid you cannot live anymore. You've served your purpose Emerald."  
"Wh-what?" Emerald asked.  
"Let me summarize this for you. You've made us an invincible being; you are no longer needed. You must die." Diamond said. He snapped his fingers and guards came and seized Emerald.  
"Let me go!" Emerald yelled.  
"Put her in the cell...in 30 minutes, she will be executed. Emerald stopped struggling and her heart dropped. She was thrown into a prison cell. The door closed and she wailed.  
  
Emerald cried uncontrollably for a few minutes. Soon, the door opened, and Ruby was thrown into the cell. The door locked. Emerald turned around. She saw all of her colleagues and co-workers who had helped her with Robo-Z: Topaz, Sapphire, Jade, Quartz, and Hematite. Topaz let her orange ponytail swing behind her. "Well...I guess this is goodbye." She said. Sapphire let her straight whitish-blue hair create a curtain around her. "We're doomed...doomed to die and let humankind suffer." She said. Quartz, her boyfriend hugged her. Jade's dark skin seemed even darker in the light and her dark green hair seemed to make her look a bit frightening. "We have to face death sometime...it just seems that now is too soon." Quartz let his white-blonde hair be soaked by Sapphire's tears. "I guess...I guess it's better than being blamed for the destruction of the world." Quartz said. Emerald cried. "It's all my fault..." Hematite took Emerald in a deep hug. "Don't bet too hard on yourself." He said. One of the guards opened the door to the cell and led them down a narrow hallway. There was a guard in the front of the line and the back.  
"Step here." The guard said pointing to a moving runway. Jade was the first to step on the runway. Slowly, everyone else did as well.  
"We can't die now..." Topaz growled. She ran the reverse way of the platform. She was going to escape and fulfill her hopes and dreams to---BANG!--- a bullet flew through the air and shot through her stomach. She blinked and clutched her stomach, too shocked to say anything. She looked at her hand: blood. She slowly fell to the floor...dead. Everyone gasped. "Don't you dare oppose us!" one of the guards said. "We'll shoot you too!" They all froze. The platform continued to move and a door closed behind Emerald and her friends: They were trapped.  
  
Everyone willed themselves to be strong. Emerald stared into space.  
"Well...no turning back now." Quartz said. Sapphire clutched Quartz's arm.  
"Humanity will not suffer..." Emerald whispered.  
"What?" Hematite asked.  
"Robo-Z...yes he DOES have a complete arsenal of weapons, but he has a weakness." Emerald said hoarsely.  
"What do you mean?" Jade asked.  
"Robo-Z...if someone else who is blessed by the power of the Groovetron opposes Robo-Z, then there is a chance that humanity will live." Emerald said.  
"The Groovetron?" Sapphire asked.  
"Yes...it's a power that those with dancing in their hear t and soul are blessed with. It gives them...powers. Whatever they like or have a passion for, they can manipulate that into an attack." Emerald explained.  
"Then...there's hope?" Hematite asked.  
"Yes...humanity may stand a chance." Emerald said. Soon, they found themselves in front of mechanisms used for shredding trees.  
"So this is our fate?" Quartz asked. "To be shredded to death?"  
Emerald nodded. "We'll accept death with a smile and show TechJunkie Inc. what we're made of."  
They inched closer and closer to the machine. It was then that Hematite realized how much he loved Emerald. He gazed at her until her green eyes met his. "I love you." He mouthed.  
"Me too." She mouthed back. He started to walk over to her to kiss her...to die with her. He took a step but soon felt a sharp pain in his foot. His foot was in the machine. He looked over at the others. He realized that he would never kiss Emerald...he didn't know which hurt more, his heart or his depleting leg. He was dying slowly, but he refused to scream. Emerald was the last to die...slowly, the mouth of the machine engulfed her and she closed her eyes with tears streaming down her cheek and a smile on her face. "I love you Hematite..." Her thoughts whispered silently as her mind slowly blacked out.  



	10. Revenge of...Shorty?

Everyone was at Shorty's house...with a new addition...Strike! Strike was sitting on the couch smoking lightly. Kelly was about to pass out from the unhealthisness of the smoke.  
"Strike!!! I don't like breathing in those DISGUSTING fumes!" She yelled. He ignored her. They were watching the news and seeing the story about the "mad artist" (Frida).  
"In other news," The news anchor said. "There has been a report of mass death at TechJunkie Inc. It appears to be that the top scientist were brutally killed in a mechanism used for the shredding of trees. There has been one identifiable body. That is the body of the scientist Emerald Lopez was found today. She has no chance of recovering. Sources say that she was severly slashed from the mechanism."   
"Wow, that's...sad." Shorty said. Strike started screaming and yelling clutching his heart as her fell to the floor.  
"Strike? What's wrong?" Kelly asked. Strike wasn't listening as he continued to yell in agony.  
  
Strike's Flashback...  
"Emerald...I'm sorry." Strike said.  
"Don't leave Strike!" Emerald said with pleading in her eyes.  
"I have to. The cops will be looking for me." Strike said.  
"Then...take good care of yourself...please." Emerald said.  
"I will...and I'm sorry. I shouldn't be leaving you. I promise one day I'll see you...and Ruby again. I'm really sorry. I don't mean to hurt you. This is for the best." Strike said.  
"Take care." Emerald said with tears as Strike turned his back on her and walked away...  
  
And back again...  
"Em-Emerald!" Strike yelled.  
"You think he's OK?" Shorty asked Heat.  
"I don't know...but that's scary. Kinda like...spontaneous combustion." Heat said with a smirk.  
"What's that?" Shorty asked.  
"It's when bodies catch on fire when there's no trace of fire anywhere."  
"That's sick...and scary." Shorty said.  
"I know." Heat said still smirking.  
"You shouldn't be telling me that kinda stuff." Shorty said. Heat bent down and gave Shorty a little kiss on the cheek.  
"I like scaring ya." Heat said as he gave her a light pat on the head. Shorty touched her cheek lightly. Strike's screams interrupted her thoughts though.  
"Emerald..." Strike finally said. "She was my sister."  
"WHAT?!?" Everyone asked.  
"That world famous scientist?" Kelly asked.  
"WHO DIED?" Kitty-N asked.  
"You HAVE a sister?" Shorty asked. All these comments seemed to rush out at Strike.  
"Yeah...I made a promise to see her again, but I'll never fill that promise." Strike said clenching his chest.  
"Promise?" Shorty asked.  
"I...I told her that I was going to see her again, but I guess I'm not." Strike said bitterly.  
"Strike..." Kelly said patting his back. Everyone took their turn slowly comforting the gangster.  
"About Frida." Strike said later. "She's out to get you."  
"No DUH!" Everyone said.  
"Oh you figured it out?" Strike asked.  
"IT DOESN'T TAKE A FRIGGIN GENIUS!" Everyone yelled back. Strike smiled and laughed.   
"I find I actually 'like' you people." Strike said.  
"About Emerald..." Shorty began. "I'm really sorry that--"  
"No. It's OK. I'll take revenge on those who killed her. Until then, I'll stay with you guys. I'll be a 'bodyguard'."  
Everyone laughed except for Heat. Kitty-N went out to prepare a snack. It was then that Heat decided to "stake his claim" on Shorty. He bent down to hug her from behind when Kitty-N raced through the door and smacked Heat on the back. Heat toppled over Shorty tackling her. Shorty screamed and her loud voice startled Kitty-N who then dropped the tray of cookies and tea on top of Heat.  
"YEEEEEEEOOOOOWWWWWCH!!!!" Heat yelled.  
"This is...interesting group." Striked said.  
"Sorry sorry sorry!" Kitty-N said repeatedly.  
"Shorty, are you alright?" Heat asked with worry.  
"Ow....." Shorty mumbled as she slowly got up. She coughed a bit and then winked.  
"I'm fine!!" She announced cheerfully. "Yuck..." She said as she shook off the cookies and tea.  
"Ditto." Heat mumbled. There was tea and cookies splattered over the both.  
"I'm going to go change." Shorty said. She stomped hapilly up the stairs and went in her room. Heat took spare clothes from his bag and followed Shorty but soon lost track of her. He walked around and figured he might as well change in one of the rooms. He walked down the corrider a bit and opened one of the doors. Wrong door Heat!! There in front of him stood Shorty with a shirt but no pants. Just her underwear. They stared at each other for a minute.  
"HEAT!!!!" She yelled throwing her overalls at him. "GEEZ!!! KNOCK!!!! I'M NOT EVEN DRESSED!" She yelled while hopping around the room. She grabbed another pair of overalls and slammed her bathroom door shut. Heat pulled the overalls away from his face.  
"Shorty! I'm sorry!!!" He yelled behind the door.  
"Geez Heat!!!"  
"Sorry!!!!" He said while flushing red. "Look. Don't come out, OK? I'm going to change too. He put on the bottom of the one piece suit when Shorty (fully dressed), came out with a camera. Before Heat had time to react, Shorty snapped his picture. Out of the camera came a blank piece of exposed paper. She waved it as if to fan herself and then smiled. The picture developed and it showed a handsome oriental boy with a sun tanned chest with pants that were up but exposed a good amount of stomache.  
"Shorty!!!!!" He exclaimed as he quickly pulled up his shirt and zipped up the topped.  
"Revenge Fireboy!!!" Shorty yelled while giggling. He ran around the room chasing her and tackled her to the floor.  
"Gimme that picture!!!" He yelled.  
"No way!" She said. "This is revenge!!! Ah sweet revenge!" He grabbed her arm and she kicked him in the stomache. Heat was made out of strong stuff, but not that strong he staggered back. She ran out of the room and into another. When Heat recovered, he couldn't find her. She soon walked out smiling.   
"Where is it?" He asked panting.  
"I don't know." She said with a smile.  
"Yes you do!!! Where is it?!?!?"  
"Not telling ya!" She said sticking her tongue out.  
"TELL ME!" He said.  
"Nope nope nope!" She said. "This is blackmail! You can be my servant. From now on, call me 'Master Shorty'."  
"ARGH!!!!" Heat yelled. Shorty giggled and ran down the stairs. "That's 2 bad bad bad!!" Shorty said imitating his song.  
"Shorty!!!" Heat hollered. Shorty ran down laughing and giggling with Heat shouting after her. He ran out to chase her when-BAM!-(no no, not Bust a Move, I mean the sound that is made when one hits a door).  
"How'd THAT get there?" Heat mumbled while rubbing his cheek. 


	11. Shorty-chan...

Shorty and Heat walked down the stairs in their other costumes.  
"Cute costume Shorty! LOVE the white overalls!" Kelly commented.  
"Thanks!"  
"Hey, where'd gas mask go?" Heat asked.  
"I dunno. He wasn't with us before right?" Kitty-N said.  
"Who knows..." Strike said. Suddenly...CRASH!!! A window broke shattering glass everywhere.  
"AHHHH!!!!" Shorty screamed.  
"Shorty!!!" Heat yelled he ran to get her when suddenly, Frida was right in front of him.  
"DAMN BITCH!!!!" Heat yelled as he unleashed an enormous fire globe.  
"Water Shield!!" Frida yelled while she painted a shield. Heat, however, was incredibly ticked off and managed to evaporate Frida's shield easily. Heat ran to Shorty who was trembling in fear.  
"Shorty, SHORTY!!!" He said shaking her.  
"I-I-I-I'm O-O-OK..." She finally said. He hugged her tightly and propped her up. Frida got up again with Pinky and Hamm by her sides.  
"Strike, you traitor." She said smiling evilly. "No matter, I got these guys now...Capoeira!!" She sang. Two aliens jumped out from the shattered window. They immediately attacked sending out energy at Heat. Strike shot at them but that didn't stop the beam of energy hurtling towards Heat. Shorty saw this and with one quick movement, pushed Heat down and took the blast for herself.  
"SHORTY!!!" Heat yelled watching her fall to the floor. She had lost consciousness but was still breathing. He glared at Capoeira. He concentrated on his fire and unleashed rage and fury towards the two aliens, burning away at the wall behind them.  
"Whoa." Everyone said. Heat then looked up at Frida and smiled sinisterly.  
"What'cha gonna do know?" He sneered. He concentrated on another attack and shot at Frida again. Frida jumped to avoid the attack, but try as she might, she couldn't. The fiery attack had penetrated parts of the ceiling as well as parts of the ground. Frida got up sputtering and severely burned.  
"No more fun and games, Frida." Heat snickered. Frida took the time to attack and painted out a huge wave. It crashed down on top of Heat, but when everything had cleared, Heat was unmoved and still in the same place. He was soaked from head to toe, but he didn't seem to notice. Now Kelly started to attack and Kitty-N as well. They fought one on one: Kelly with Hamm, Kitty-N with Pinky. Heat stood there glaring. Then he unleashed another fiery attack at Frida. This time she dodged it and drew a glaring wolf. Heat smacked the wolf with his hands and knocked it out. He was definitely pissed off. Then another voice was heard.  
"Ohhhh!! I'm going to die!!" Hiro-kun's voice said. He was sobbing with all his might.  
"Ohhhh, death for such a perfect person shouldn't be allowed!!" He moaned on. Frida drew out vines to grab Hiro-kun when he flipped out a picture of himself.  
"I MUST let the world see my face before I die!!!" He moaned as the vines crept closer. He threw the picture up when a breeze caught it and it smacked Frida on the face. She pulled it off and looked at it. Then came a loud shout of, "AHHHHHHH UGLY MAN UGLY MAN!!!!" She retreated along with her sidekicks...the vines, without a master, fell limp to the ground. Kelly and Kitty-N had stars in their eyes and they hugged Hiro-kun.  
"MY HERO!!" They both sang. Hiro blushed heavily and tried to laugh. Heat ignored the scene and picked up the two aliens that lay in the smolders of the room.  
"Today will be your last day on this earth." He said simply. They shuddered in fear when suddenly Kitty-N's voice rang out.  
"Heat STOP!"  
"Why should I? They hurt Shorty."  
"Would Shorty want you to kill them?"  
Heat paused then threw them down on the ground. Get outa my sight. He muttered. Heat walked over to Shorty's body and picked her up. He put her on a couch and waited patiently for her to wake up.  
  
Shorty's eyes opened a bit.  
"Hey..." Heat said. It was 2:00 AM and everyone was sleeping.  
"Hey..." she murmured.  
"Why did you...?" Heat asked. She smiled.  
"Just cuz." She said.  
"Thanks...Shorty." He said.  
"You're welcome." She whispered. She turned to go back to sleep.  
"Shorty...?" Heat asked her.  
"Yeah?"  
"Nothing..."  
"OK."  
"Shorty...?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Shorty?"  
"Yeah?"  
There was a long pause.  
"Yeah?" Shorty repeated. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her chin tipping her face upward.  
"Heat...?" She asked with uncertainty. Then there was a feeling of softness on her lips. A KISS!!!! Her heart beat quickly as her inexperienced and his experienced lips collided. Two different worlds united. He guided her through the entire ordeal like a torch in a dark cave. It ended sooner than it seemed and Heat hugged Shorty.  
"Anata ai shitteru*." He whispered in her ear. She blushed and repeated, "Anata ai shitteru." Then their lips brushed against each other again...  
  
*Anata ai shitteru= I love you. 


	12. Morning Comes

Shorty's eyes fluttered opened the next day. Random thoughts flooded her mind.  
"What's for breakfast today?"  
"Where's Columbo?"  
"Did Mama and Papa leave?"  
"Was that all just a dream." Her mind stayed there for a moment. She touched her lips lightly. Suddenly, she got out of her dreamy trance-like state and got up. She seemed to be in her room. She was sitting upright on her bed with Columbo sleeping on a rug in the middle of her room.  
"Columbo!!" She said waking up the little mouse. She was still in her white overalls that she had changed into the day before. Columbo got up and leaped into Shorty's pocket. She got up and walked slowly down the stairs. Her heart was pounding. Did what she remember happen? Step by step she walked down the huge banister. Then she smelled frying eggs and toast. Her stomach grumbled a bit. She finally got down the stairs and saw everyone fast asleep. Kelly...Kitty-N...Hiro-kun...Strike...but wait! Where was Heat? She trudged to the kitchen with her heart pounding incredibly loud and fast. She was sure she would wake everyone else up. Slowly, she opened the door. The kitchen door always chose the wrong time to creak...right now was one of them. The door made a high-pitched squeak and Heat turned around from his cooking to look at who was at the door. There was a tense pause.  
"Uh...smells great!" Shorty exclaimed while moving to the kitchen table. She found her way without tripping and sat down.  
"Oh...uh...yeah. Thanks..." Heat said slowly.  
"Um...yeah...so..." Shorty said while staring at her feet.  
"Umm...about yesterday..." Heat began as he turned off the stove and sat across Shorty.  
Heat started talking again. "Umm...well, I...I don't know what came over me. Um...I guess...my feelings sorta came out."  
"Oh, uh, yeah...umm, same here." Shorty said. "My true feelings kinda ran off with me...I...I understand if you know, you went outa control and just sorta did...that." She said.  
"No..." Heat said. "I didn't go outa control. My true feelings just finally came out. Shorty's heart did an enormous leap.  
"And about that time...back then, when I said you reminded me of myself...well that's not entirely true...I mean it is, but I said that...because I...I guess I liked you back then and said that because...because I felt something strong about you." Heat said slowly. None of them were able to get out the word "kiss" in that conversation. They were both so shy and nervous talking about what had happened.  
"I always...was so neglected here at home." Shorty said. "And then I met you...and you filled this huge canyon in my heart that was once so empty. Columbo couldn't do that...and my parents...well, they...they care but are just too busy to tend to me. Nobody understands that a 12 year old is capable of loving...and that a 12 year old still needs love." She paused.  
"But you...you seemed to be the only one who saw me as...me. Not as a little girl."  
Heat listened. "But you do know our ages are so far apart." Shorty said. That seemed to be something the two didn't want to face.  
"I...know." Heat said.  
"What will people say about us...?" Shorty began.  
"Who CARES what people say!" Heat said with passion burning in his eyes. "Because we...we love...each other!"  
Shorty paused. Love seemed like such a big commitment. Such a big leap for such a small girl. She had never experienced love and couldn't distinguish whether or not this was love, but what was that pounding sensation she felt when Heat was around. What was that feeling of her heart beating so quickly when Heat was so close to her? Was it love? Could she know? Yes. It was definitely love. That sensation in her heart.  
"Yeah! We do!" She said. "So...so who cares?"  
"You're hesitating." Heat's fiery eyes seemed to see all in her soul.  
"I just...don't know what love is." Shorty said. Heat smirked. He leaned over and kissed her again. Her heart pounded, her blood flowed quickly and her eyes fluttered.  
"DO you know now?" He whispered.  
"Yes..." 


	13. Shopping Day: Meet Comet!

Shorty felt herself fall into what seemed to be the ocean. Rhythmatic and beautiful...Heat was air helping her breath in  
the water. She felt herself drowning in the currents of love. Love...  
  
Kelly woke up with everyone else sleeping. The air had the scent of eggs floating around. Her stomach grumbled and  
she walked over to the kitchen door. Slowly she opened....  
What a sight to behold...a 19-year-old and a 12-year-old...KISSING (*ahem*)...  
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She yelled. Shorty and Heat practically fell off the table and looked over to Kelly.  
"HEAT!!! YOU-YOU-YOU RAPIST!!!" She yelled. Heat was at a loss for words...eventually, he got out what he wanted to  
say.  
"RAPIST?? WHAT!!!! NOT ME!!!" He yelled. "Shorty, tell her."  
"Yes Shorty!!! TELL ME!!!" Kelly yelled.  
"Uh....well, um me and Heat...well we...umm..." Shorty began.  
"Omigod!! You LET him do this?!?!?" She screamed.  
"Uh...yeah...I...kinda....yeah..." Shorty stuttered.  
"Oh my--" Kelly began, but she could finish because she had fainted on the floor.  
  
"Kelly...KELLY!!!" Shorty's voice rang out while she shook her. Everyone was behind Shorty as she shook her repeatedly.  
"Uhh..." Kelly groaned as she woke up.  
"The last thing I saw was...Heat and--" Then Kelly's vision returned to her. She saw everyone looking at her with  
imploring looks and Heat and Shorty shifting uncomfortably.  
"I saw Heat and Shorty..." She began again. "...Talking...they were talking." She finished. Heat and Shorty made faint  
sighs of relief.  
"Anyways, now that we're all up, what are we gonna do about Frida?" Strike asked.  
"We're gonna beat her at her own cheap 'game' that's what!" Heat declared.  
"Right!!" Everyone agreed.  
"So let's go!" Heat said. He walked out when -WAPOW!!!- (guess what happened?)  
Heat fell back and rubbed his forehead where he had hit the door.  
  
"TechJunkie Inc....hmmm..." Frida thought outloud while searching. "They made 'Robo Z' as they call it." "Ha...TechJunkie  
my ass...they're the Secret X organization."  
"What's up girl?" Pinky's voice called out.  
"I think we found out next 'secret weapon'." Frida said sinisterly. Pinky smiled then let out an inhuman laugh that rang  
out throughout the halls.  
  
Heat and Shorty walked down the lovely boardwalk of the beach. Walking hand in hand without the others there to  
tease them. This was a sorta..."first date" experience for Shorty. The girl's heart was pounding quickly...so quickly she  
was sure Heat could feel her pulse in her hand. If he could, he didn't say anything. They walked into a store and came  
out with an ice cream cone that they shared.  
"Wow, how perfect is this?" Shorty thought.  
"Oh wow!! How kawaii!" Shorty exclaimed at the site of a cute outfit in the window. The outfit was white with red  
suspenders. There was a turtleneck opening and blue at the bottom of the sleeves along with jeans.  
Heat, picked Shorty up and put her on his shoulders. They walked into the store together.  
  
Shorty tried on the smallest sized they had and it still looked big on her. Her hands didn't come out of the sleeves and  
her brastrap was showing. Thank goodness for the suspenders or else the jeans would've fallen right off her narrow  
waist. One of the straps of the suspender fell and the shirt fell a little from the decreasing length.  
"I think it's too big..." Shorty said.  
"Well, you'll grow into it...right?" Heat asked. "Besides, that looks cute on you!"  
"Really?" Shorty asked.  
"Yeah."   
Shorty blushed. After they paid, Shorty and Heat walked to some more to do more shopping. She held the shopping bag  
excitedly and walked happily down the street.  
"You know, you don't HAVE to buy that stuff for me." Shorty said.  
"I know...you're the daughter of a multi-billionare."  
"Har har. No seriously." Shorty said. "Besides, we're not THAT rich."  
Heat laughed. Suddenly, an idea hit Shorty.  
"Hey, wait a minute!! That gives me an idea!" Shorty exclaimed. "Super Land!!"  
"Super-what?" Heat asked.  
"Super Land!! My amusement park!."  
"You OWN an AMUSEMENT PARK?!?!"  
"Yeah!!" She exclaimed happily. She started bouncing around. "Come on, let's go!!" She said dragging his wrist. Heat  
smiled with exasperation. "Guess she can't be all that mature...but that's what makes her so...cute." He thought.  
"All right, all right, coming!"  
"YAY!!!!"  
  
Kelly walked down the pier shops with Strike carrying her shopping bags. Kitty-N walked down happily with them along  
with Hiro-kun being weighed down be her merchandise. She smiled as people around her whispered.  
"Hey...that movie star!" A guy's voice murmered.  
"Yeah she's totally famous!" A female voice said.  
"Yeah, I know. She's hot too. Look at her body she's so hot and se-" There was a slapping sound.  
"I can't believe I'm going out with you!"  
"Comet wait!"  
Kitty-N sighed and rolled her eyes. She watched as the girl known as "Comet" sped by pass her. She was a pretty girl of  
15 years or so. Her sky blue hair looked awfully familiar...she had a quirky innocent look on her face. She wore a see  
through bubble-skirt and had an apron over it. She skated freely on her roller skates as she breezed by Kitty-N. She  
picked up speed and skated away from sight with the poor guy running to catch up with her. Kitty-N sighed. "Fame." She  
thought with a smirk.  
"What are you smirking about?" A British accent cut in.  
"Nothing." Kitty-N mumbled. Kelly shrugged. Then she pointed up.  
"Oh I LOVE that store!" She exclaimed.  
"Me too!!!" Kitty-N said. They both went in and Strike and Hiro sighed knowing they'd have to carry more.  
"Yo man, a gangsta don't do this kinda stuff!" Strike said while calling after Kelly.  
"Aww...Strike!" Kelly said with a small pouty face and sad eyes.  
"Aw hell..." Strike replied, knowing he had to give in to the girly face.  
  
"Come on Heat!" Shorty said while fanning him. "Hurry up!!"  
Heat was gasping for air. "You know for a short kid, you run really fast..."  
"I know." Shorty said with a cute smirk. They were at Super Land and the rides and machines sparkled kiddishly.  
"Hey! Right there!" Shorty said pointing to a clearing with vending machines.  
"MUSIC~!!!" She yelled. A cute song blasted out and Shorty danced kiddishly to the beats.  
"Oh man, is this where you dance?"  
"Yup!"  
She continued to dance childish moves and Heat watched her as he smirked at her cute girliness. 


	14. The Big Scary Gigantic Robot!

Author's babbling: Hey ya'all! OK, here it is...chapter 14. AGHHH, haven't updated this since December! ::smacks her head on the table:: Gomen nesai...~!! ^^;; I've been so busy with my other fics and school and whatnot that I haven't had any minutes free. In the event that I had minutes, I played DDR, FFX, and other video games. OK well...happy reading!  
  
The colors began to swirl around Shorty's feet. "What the...?"  
The ground began to shake...faster...faster...FASTER!!!  
"AHHHHH!!" Shorty screamed. She could feel her body being hoisted up, big, metal fingers surrounded her body.  
"Shorty!" Heat called out to her. There it was...a robot...a GIANT robot...WITH HANDS! A big giant SHINY robot...WITH HANDS! And he was probably loaded with ammo too.  
"Oh man, this dost not bode well." Heat mumbled.  
"This is no time for Shakespeare impressions, Heat!" Shorty screamed as she was pulled higher and higher into the air and set atop a huge building.  
"Look at that thing, it's HUGE!" Heat exclaimed.  
"WELL DUH HEAT!" Shorty screamed. She could feel tears running down her eyes. "GET ME DOWN FROM HERE HEAT!"  
"But it's so high up..."  
"HEAT!!!!!!!!"  
"All right, all right! I'll think of something...anything."  
"THINK FASTER!!!" Shorty panicked.  
The big robot's eyes blinked at her. They turned over to her direction, bleeping. His eyes were sharp and defined, which made Shorty squirm in place. His fingers were long and sharp looking. He seemed to have a cruel sneer on his face and a fiery temper...even if he WAS just a big, shiny, robot. He lowered his face to size up the little girl and was so close to Shorty that she could've sworn he was breathing. Her heart began to pound faster. One mere flick of his finger and she'd be out like a light. His monstrous figure and enormous mechanical parts made Shorty shake. His robotic mouth began to move as he started to speak...  
"We're goin' ta daance!" The voice said cheerfully with a southern accent.  
Shorty face-faulted. "Eh?"  
"Yup, thaaaaat's right kiddo! We're goin' to dance!"  
"Why'd you bring me so high-" Shorty looked down at the ground which seemed millions of miles away. "up?" she asked meekly.  
"I dunno, just sorta felt like it."  
"Felt like it?"  
"Yesireebob, felt like it!"  
"OK, so how do I get down then?"  
"I'll help you down, but first..." The robot started to bounce up and down happily, like a little giddy kid, He began to clap his hands and stomp his feet with glee. Cars down below the city rumbled up and down as the enormous robot bounced. "we dance, kay?"  
"Oh my gosh...this robot's even more childish than I am." Shorty thought. "Fine, fine. We'll dance."  
"Yay~!! Yahoo!!!" The robot exclaimed happily. More cars swerved to avoid the huge robot and bounced up and down.  
"Um...Mr. Big Enormous Robot, sir?"  
"Yes little munchkin?"  
"You should...uh...stop bouncing. I mean, it's bad enough you're blocking the road and all."  
"OK, OK. Now, we dance, kay?"  
"OK."  
Music began to play, the swirling of colors happened again and Shorty felt her heart thumping in her chest. Her pigtails blew in the wind as she began to dance. She felt herself perspire...then all-out sweat...then there was the mingling of the various beads of sweat on her face. She tried to give out her all, dancing enthusiastically, but since she had already danced not long ago, she was physically worn. The robot was declared winner by a random faraway voice.  
"Good job!" Shorty congratulated breathlessly.  
"Thanks little girl!" The robot took Shorty's tiny hand in his large one and shook. Shorty felt her whole body being lifted off the ground.  
"AYIEEEE!!!"  
"Oops, sorry!" The robot said apologetically.  
"...No problem..." Shorty replied cautiously. The robot took her again and set her gently on the ground next to the FFB (frantic fireboy).  
"Until next time!" The robot said happily as he skipped away from them. "By the way, my name's Robo-Z!"  
"Whadda weirdo..." Shorty mumbled.  
  
Strike and Hiro walked into the mansion, tired and nearly covered in shopping bags.  
"That's the last time they drag me out on their shopping errands!" Strike declared.  
"Aw, didn't you have fun?" Kelly asked as she filed her nails.  
"Oh yeah." Strike exclaimed sarcastically. "You bet. I've had sooo much 'fun' having 16 people asking me if I was 'Notorious,' 2 cops looking at me, 6 children crying because they saw me on 'America's Most Wanted' and 4 grandmas smacking me on the head with their purses because they thought I was about to attack them. Golly gee whiz, the fun of it all!"  
Kitty-N and Kelly looked at each other knowingly. "Men." They both sighed.  
"Yeah, I, Hiro-kun, don't have it easy either!" Hiro stated.  
"Oh come on, Hiro. What bad things happened to you?"  
"I had like what, 3 girls hitting on me?"  
"OK Hiro, let's get this straight. One girl was staring at the spaghetti sauce stain on your white shirt," Kitty-N began, pointing to his stained shirt, "another was looking at your strange hairstyle...and the last one whom you THOUGHT was winking at you had dust in her contact lenses."  
Hiro made a face.  
"GUYS!! GUESS WHAT?!" Shorty ran in, her face exhausted, obviously running with great speed.  
"What happened, Shorty?" Kelly asked in her motherly, English accent.  
"I SAW A GIANT ROBOT!"  
There was silence.  
"Shorty, are you feeling all right, love?" Kelly asked as she put her hand up to Shorty's forehead.  
"I'm feeling fine! BUT WOW!! A ROBOT!!"  
Everyone looked at Heat.  
"She's telling the truth, I saw it."  
"A ROBOT?!" Kitty-N asked.  
"Yup! He was kinda weird though. He picked me up on this big...and I mean BIG building...then he asked me to dance. HE ASKED ME TO DANCE!! And I did and it was fun and I had a great time even though I lost. I think Heat was kinda worried though, but it was actually really cool! He took me up, set me on the building and asked me to dance...he had a weird southern accent though, but it was cool because I dance with a giant robot. A GIANT ROBOT!" Shorty replied, extremely fast.  
"Huh?" Kitty-N said, obviously not understanding a word Shorty had said.  
"I said-"  
"NO, NO!" Kelly yelled. "I heard you, you danced with a robot and all. That's great!" Kelly eyed Kitty-N and gave her a look that said "don't-ask-or-she'll-talk-forever-and-a-day-and-we-don't-want-that-at-all-because-it's-annoying."  
Kitty-N intercepted the looked nodded.  
"But wowzers! I danced with a robot!" Shorty exclaimed.  
"And you don't know where it came from, right?" Kitty-N asked.  
"Nope, but golly! It was fun~!"  
Suddenly, a huge, mechanical hand blasted through the wall.  
"AH!!!" Shorty screamed.  
A laugh was heard. "Hahahaha!" Frida's voice rang.  
"Hehehehe!" Pinky's voice rang.  
"Harharharhar." Hamm's voice rang  
"Riiiight." Shorty said sarcastically. The mechanical hand pulled away from the building and the "good guys" took a look at the enormous mecha.  
"Robo-Z?" Shorty asked.  
"Little girl I-bzzt-gzzt-kzzt"  
"He's ours now!" Frida yelled maniacally.  
"Where are you?" Shorty asked, worried.  
"I'm inside the robot, dummy!"  
"Oh!" Shorty paused. "What is this, Gundam Wing?"  
"Shut up, you!" Frida cackled. "This time I HAVE SOME HELPING HANDS!"  
A mutilated zombie leapt down from one shoulder of the robot. On the other side, a little boy hopped down.  
"Get real!" Heat said, pointing to the little boy. "He can't possibly fight!"  
"Oh Tsutomu-kun! Show him what you can do!" Frida commanded in a sing-songy voice.  
Tsutomu started giggling boyishly and out of no where, a door went behind Heat.  
"Uh-oh!" Shorty mumbled.  
The door opened and Heat felt himself bonked on the head numerous times not only by the door, but by the bricks.  
"Door are your weakness Mr. Fireboy!" Frida screeched.  
"What's up with the zombie?" Kelly asked.  
"He's my dad." A voice said from behind them.  
"Gas-O!" Everyone exclaimed.  
"He sort of has a grudge against me...long story, will explain later. For now," he pointed to Frida and her gang, "let's get 'em!" 


End file.
